[she really would demand this while physically making it impossible.
Fukawa grits her teeth, but turns. Halfway in body and whole in gaze, looking stubbornly over her sharp-angled shoulder at Will.
He is not the first person to remind her of Naegi here. Rondo does too, and at times Leng Feng. Choi, though less in attitude than the relentless supportive action. There have been others. Places like these seem to draw that shitty shining optimist type in, eager to take a shot at crushing that spirit. It helps other people more than it helps them, she thinks. They siphon the life out of them. All these poor lost souls are just impossible to resist.
She hates that, too. It shouldn't be necessary. And it shouldn't be directed at her. She's done her time already, she's not Will's problem, except she's under his damnable employ. She still cannot be certain she trusts any one of the Team Leads. Especially after that duplicitous stunt the first week. Mistake or no, realizing that they had lied to the other contestants had twisted her guts into knots. She could just hear Ikusaba's crap imitation of her sister in it.
Then Will had died. So had Ikusaba, though. That's what you get for enabling blood-thirsty designs.
He is being kind now. Has always been, in spite of her hissing and spitting, and everyone else folded in half for him the second he opened his sweet little mouth. He says he doesn't want to see her in pain and she has to swallow a thick lump. Little late for that, but she doesn't want to be his burden anyway. She doesn't want to be the weak-willed coward who has to be carried anymore. Whether he means it all or not, she just wants to be done with this shit.]
...Everything ends. E-even shitty institutions that sh-should have been cancelled sixty seasons ago. [Sixty-nine, actually. She grimaces.] If this place c-can't give me what I need to destroy it, I'll find some other way.
And I'll find a way to end it at home. There aren't many p-people left. But those who are....they have to count on me, too.
Don't pity me. I chose to be here, and I'm d-doing something about it.
[ he's surprised she looks at him! but he takes it.
sometimes, when you're a creation, when you're something that's real and not quite real all in one, you have to get your nails in and dig into the flesh of purpose. what is your purpose, when you are a construct? when you are an ideal, instead of a person? do you get to be a person?
he's not really sure he does. so. he takes the beatings, he takes the lashings, and he smiles through them, because that is what an ideal does. a hero stands in front of the blows for everybody else. it's no different here. and the thing is, he doesn't even necessarily see it as being kind, it's just... well, treating people the way he'd like to be treated.
the people at home always used to look at him with distrust and an insult waiting, but he's never held a grudge. they just don't understand. they're just scared. they just have so many hang ups that need patience, and a good and proper hero from a story book will always have that patience. they will support, not carry. or... at least, that good and proper hero will try his hardest. ]
I don't pity you, and I never have. I think you're really strong. [ honest, genuine as always. ] And I believe in your ability to destroy the people who have hurt you and the people you care about. I know that you chose to be here - I did too. So I know the dedication it takes to move forward and fix things, instead of just waiting for someone else to do it for you.
[ but even if she did choose to be here - she was still in a position that meant she felt she had to, and that still makes him sad. it's the kind of world he wants to prevent, even if he knows people think he's naive for wanting it. ]
[Thinking she's strong. That's a laugh. Maybe now, knowing what she had lived through, fine, even Komaru mistook her for someone worth putting on a pedestal.
But what has she done since Will showed up that was so worth all this praise? This dogged determination to stay on her ass? Not much, as far as she's concerned. It's hard to believe he means it.
It would be nice to believe. She has so much trouble buying her own bullshit most of the time, no matter how hard she hammers it in to everyone else.]
...It's n-not like I have a choice. None of us really do. [Passing the work on to someone else, when you were the one in the middle of it? That's just irresponsible.] If you don't k-keep moving, you'll die.
If you th-think just winding up in that crazy situation m-makes it admirable then...I guess I can't tell you wh-what to think anymore. Believe what you want about me.
[memmy. memmy for poor beleaguered kabbys? poor bereft kabbys, not one crumb of lore with which to feed ourselves with]
The scene is this - you have been summoned to fight Count Louis, a man who has been trying to become king in opposition to you. You know things about him that the populace does not, or at the very least, does not care about - you know that he killed the previous king, you know that he aims to leave behind the weak in his new world order, and you know that years ago, he allowed a Human to destroy a town full of innocent people, in order to make an example. Even if this wasn't Strohl's hometown, you'd still be furious - innocents died horrible, easily preventable deaths because Louis wanted a dramatic demonstration of the threat humans could pose. This town, and many others, were just chess pieces.
You cannot let him win. You won't. He'll hurt even more innocent people for the sake of "making a better world," and you are too stubborn to allow it.
So you fight him, with your friends. And he loses. Technically. Only, he cheats. He lies, to discredit you. He faces you, and he strikes you with an ancient magic you don't know how to deal with.
She doesn't quite understand the scene so readily. For one, there's fantasy types all around, but one of them looks like they popped out of a shitty beach party movie from times too long past. Sixties or seventies looking headband and dress, right next to a guy in a long coat with a sword. Will himself looks like a sore thumb sticking out, smart tweedy looking suit jacket and all. Is this a time-travel plot?
God. Not an isekai? You have to kill her right now.
Except things take a turn. Quickly. Horrifically. The magic used to shift his form (what's all this about a "human"?) makes her skin prickle, sweat bead at her brow. She falls back, scrambling from the image on the screen, projected larger than life and in unnerving wraparound vision.
She watches the rest from that fretful perch, hand to her mouth, blinking fast. Trying to make sense of it all.]
he's fiddling with his gloves. they're firmly on, though it's clear by the aborted movement he makes that he was bringing one up to try and bite his nails. he folds his arms instead. maybe hugging himself a little. ]
... I would understand if you were afraid of me. [ he says, finally. ]
But give her a second. Fukawa shakes her head, pushing herself back to her feet. Will's anxious. Who wouldn't be, after a thing like that?
Except his question makes her brows furrow. She looks to him a moment.]
You? [Her nose wrinkles.] D-didn't that fancy boy in your vision t-tell you it was just some kind of m-magic being used on you? That other bastard was clearly suspicious, and you just ch-changed right back to yourself after! And he wasn't even sc-scared himself. If you were really a huge threat, he wouldn't have b-been wasting hot air smearing your name right after. He would have tried to kill you or g-g-get out of there.
[Is she on the mark? She feels like she might be. Her understanding of the surrounding lore is nonexistent, but the man in the crown had been acting like the classic scheming nobleman. Not some earnest lord trying to spare the kingdom from a threat.
Huffing, slapping her skirt.]
I'm j-just not used to all this m-m-magic crap. And the surround tvs made it f-feel way too real...anyone would g-get alarmed by some huge glowing guy showing up.
[ this is so funny. he glances at her, pausing in his fiddling. ]
Well... that's true. [ the fancy boy, help. will's lips twitch, and he does his best not to smile at all. he doesn't want her to get mad at him for it... ]
A lot of people were afraid of me. We had to run, shortly after, because people thought that my race really could just turn into Humans. But... you seem to understand what Louis was trying to do.
[holy shit, she was right? Fukawa straightens up a little more actually, huffing with a newly confident air.]
Well, y-yeah! That guy c-couldn't have been more suspicious if he were twirling a c-curly moustache n-next to damsel tied up on the t-train tracks!
[This is an exaggeration he obviously had the hearts of the people. The way she might have thought he was hot if Will didn't immediately show her a memory of him being a slimeball.]
Sorry, Humans? [explain.] And I imagine so. Th-there's nothing worse to be in the middle of than an angry mob. People c-can't think properly in large groups, he was clearly taking advantage of that.
[ screams in this being missing you do not have to tag this back ]
What you saw me turn into is what we call a Human, in our world. Big monsters.
[ a pause. ]
He wants to hurt people. I don't know what he's planning entirely, but I can't let him destroy everything because he sees the world as a place where the weak don't deserve to live.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Fukawa grits her teeth, but turns. Halfway in body and whole in gaze, looking stubbornly over her sharp-angled shoulder at Will.
He is not the first person to remind her of Naegi here. Rondo does too, and at times Leng Feng. Choi, though less in attitude than the relentless supportive action. There have been others. Places like these seem to draw that shitty shining optimist type in, eager to take a shot at crushing that spirit. It helps other people more than it helps them, she thinks. They siphon the life out of them. All these poor lost souls are just impossible to resist.
She hates that, too. It shouldn't be necessary. And it shouldn't be directed at her. She's done her time already, she's not Will's problem, except she's under his damnable employ. She still cannot be certain she trusts any one of the Team Leads. Especially after that duplicitous stunt the first week. Mistake or no, realizing that they had lied to the other contestants had twisted her guts into knots. She could just hear Ikusaba's crap imitation of her sister in it.
Then Will had died. So had Ikusaba, though. That's what you get for enabling blood-thirsty designs.
He is being kind now. Has always been, in spite of her hissing and spitting, and everyone else folded in half for him the second he opened his sweet little mouth. He says he doesn't want to see her in pain and she has to swallow a thick lump. Little late for that, but she doesn't want to be his burden anyway. She doesn't want to be the weak-willed coward who has to be carried anymore. Whether he means it all or not, she just wants to be done with this shit.]
...Everything ends. E-even shitty institutions that sh-should have been cancelled sixty seasons ago. [Sixty-nine, actually. She grimaces.] If this place c-can't give me what I need to destroy it, I'll find some other way.
And I'll find a way to end it at home. There aren't many p-people left. But those who are....they have to count on me, too.
Don't pity me. I chose to be here, and I'm d-doing something about it.
no subject
sometimes, when you're a creation, when you're something that's real and not quite real all in one, you have to get your nails in and dig into the flesh of purpose. what is your purpose, when you are a construct? when you are an ideal, instead of a person? do you get to be a person?
he's not really sure he does. so. he takes the beatings, he takes the lashings, and he smiles through them, because that is what an ideal does. a hero stands in front of the blows for everybody else. it's no different here. and the thing is, he doesn't even necessarily see it as being kind, it's just... well, treating people the way he'd like to be treated.
the people at home always used to look at him with distrust and an insult waiting, but he's never held a grudge. they just don't understand. they're just scared. they just have so many hang ups that need patience, and a good and proper hero from a story book will always have that patience. they will support, not carry. or... at least, that good and proper hero will try his hardest. ]
I don't pity you, and I never have. I think you're really strong. [ honest, genuine as always. ] And I believe in your ability to destroy the people who have hurt you and the people you care about. I know that you chose to be here - I did too. So I know the dedication it takes to move forward and fix things, instead of just waiting for someone else to do it for you.
[ but even if she did choose to be here - she was still in a position that meant she felt she had to, and that still makes him sad. it's the kind of world he wants to prevent, even if he knows people think he's naive for wanting it. ]
You have a determination that I really admire.
no subject
But what has she done since Will showed up that was so worth all this praise? This dogged determination to stay on her ass? Not much, as far as she's concerned. It's hard to believe he means it.
It would be nice to believe. She has so much trouble buying her own bullshit most of the time, no matter how hard she hammers it in to everyone else.]
...It's n-not like I have a choice. None of us really do. [Passing the work on to someone else, when you were the one in the middle of it? That's just irresponsible.] If you don't k-keep moving, you'll die.
If you th-think just winding up in that crazy situation m-makes it admirable then...I guess I can't tell you wh-what to think anymore. Believe what you want about me.
[memmy. memmy for poor beleaguered kabbys? poor bereft kabbys, not one crumb of lore with which to feed ourselves with]
no subject
[ throws a memory crumb to you from the windows
The scene is this - you have been summoned to fight Count Louis, a man who has been trying to become king in opposition to you. You know things about him that the populace does not, or at the very least, does not care about - you know that he killed the previous king, you know that he aims to leave behind the weak in his new world order, and you know that years ago, he allowed a Human to destroy a town full of innocent people, in order to make an example. Even if this wasn't Strohl's hometown, you'd still be furious - innocents died horrible, easily preventable deaths because Louis wanted a dramatic demonstration of the threat humans could pose. This town, and many others, were just chess pieces.
You cannot let him win. You won't. He'll hurt even more innocent people for the sake of "making a better world," and you are too stubborn to allow it.
So you fight him, with your friends. And he loses. Technically. Only, he cheats. He lies, to discredit you. He faces you, and he strikes you with an ancient magic you don't know how to deal with.
And it hurts. God, does it hurt. (to 5:20!) ]
no subject
She doesn't quite understand the scene so readily. For one, there's fantasy types all around, but one of them looks like they popped out of a shitty beach party movie from times too long past. Sixties or seventies looking headband and dress, right next to a guy in a long coat with a sword. Will himself looks like a sore thumb sticking out, smart tweedy looking suit jacket and all. Is this a time-travel plot?
God. Not an isekai? You have to kill her right now.
Except things take a turn. Quickly. Horrifically. The magic used to shift his form (what's all this about a "human"?) makes her skin prickle, sweat bead at her brow. She falls back, scrambling from the image on the screen, projected larger than life and in unnerving wraparound vision.
She watches the rest from that fretful perch, hand to her mouth, blinking fast. Trying to make sense of it all.]
...
......
[well. She is still trying.]
no subject
he's fiddling with his gloves. they're firmly on, though it's clear by the aborted movement he makes that he was bringing one up to try and bite his nails. he folds his arms instead. maybe hugging himself a little. ]
... I would understand if you were afraid of me. [ he says, finally. ]
no subject
But give her a second. Fukawa shakes her head, pushing herself back to her feet. Will's anxious. Who wouldn't be, after a thing like that?
Except his question makes her brows furrow. She looks to him a moment.]
You? [Her nose wrinkles.] D-didn't that fancy boy in your vision t-tell you it was just some kind of m-magic being used on you? That other bastard was clearly suspicious, and you just ch-changed right back to yourself after! And he wasn't even sc-scared himself. If you were really a huge threat, he wouldn't have b-been wasting hot air smearing your name right after. He would have tried to kill you or g-g-get out of there.
[Is she on the mark? She feels like she might be. Her understanding of the surrounding lore is nonexistent, but the man in the crown had been acting like the classic scheming nobleman. Not some earnest lord trying to spare the kingdom from a threat.
Huffing, slapping her skirt.]
I'm j-just not used to all this m-m-magic crap. And the surround tvs made it f-feel way too real...anyone would g-get alarmed by some huge glowing guy showing up.
no subject
Well... that's true. [ the fancy boy, help. will's lips twitch, and he does his best not to smile at all. he doesn't want her to get mad at him for it... ]
A lot of people were afraid of me. We had to run, shortly after, because people thought that my race really could just turn into Humans. But... you seem to understand what Louis was trying to do.
[ which he's not surprised by. she's smart. ]
no subject
Well, y-yeah! That guy c-couldn't have been more suspicious if he were twirling a c-curly moustache n-next to damsel tied up on the t-train tracks!
[This is an exaggeration he obviously had the hearts of the people. The way she might have thought he was hot if Will didn't immediately show her a memory of him being a slimeball.]
Sorry, Humans? [explain.] And I imagine so. Th-there's nothing worse to be in the middle of than an angry mob. People c-can't think properly in large groups, he was clearly taking advantage of that.
no subject
What you saw me turn into is what we call a Human, in our world. Big monsters.
[ a pause. ]
He wants to hurt people. I don't know what he's planning entirely, but I can't let him destroy everything because he sees the world as a place where the weak don't deserve to live.