withsadness | Week 2, Post-Trial: Shinshin

Yeah! I can't wait for Junko to get what she deserves!

[He's a really good influence. Yep.]

Are you ready?

Mhm!

[Mary balls her hands into determined fists. This is for Eleanor!]

I won’t look away no matter what!

[Yeah it’s fine this is probably normal?]

Ehehe, you're pretty strong, aren't you?

[honestly... he's kind of worried now... but it's fine, this is fine]

But seven Reapers... Ah, we'll have to get better at catching them.

Of course I am!

[The sentiment makes her pause, though.]

We do? But we've caught one every week, right? So aren't we already doing good? Hey, how come you were so sure about Junko and Ranpo being reapers? That's what you said about them, wasn't it?

Yep. That's because I got a really good gut feeling! It's one of my many, many talents. But you can't tell anyone about it, alright?

[ Ugh, this is Eleanor's thing, but... he crouches down and holds out his pinky. ]

You gotta promise you won't tell. I'm serious, Mary. If you tell anyone, I can't be your friend anymore.

[Assassin sure is a talented fellow. But Mary feels her heart jolt as Assassin offers her his pinky. There's a definite look of fear on her face at the idea of him not being her friend anymore. She hesitates as she lets the gravity of the situation sink in, and then curls her pinky finger around his.]

I promise I won't tell.

[Her voice gets lower.]

Cross my heart and hope to die.

[ He smiles. Telling children lies is like taking candy from a baby, but this sort of lie isn't it. What kind of person would he be if he left Mary alone? Eleanor would never forgive him. Besides, he's sure that Eleanor would have wanted a family of her own...

... ]

Good! But I don't want you dying on me, okay? We're gonna make it out of this game together.

Together together?

[Together forever?]

That's exactly what we'll do! You and me!

[ That's fine. They're just that sort of people. ]

Yeah! That's why we gotta keep our winning streak going. But I don't want you doing anything reckless, alright?

Reckless like what?

[Like trying to catch knives out of the air because she totally did that. Uh.]

I won't, I won't!

[ mARY... ]

Anything that'll get you killed, of course! Ah... but if someone is about to hurt you, that's a different matter.

When that happens, I want you to scream really loud for me!

Edited 2018-03-26 08:49 (UTC)

I'll scream so loud you'll hear me no matter where you are! So loud you'll wake up if even if you're sleeping!

[She throws her hands in the air in her excitement. No, wait, she shouldn't be excited, because in that scenario she's being attacked.]

Haha, yeah!

[ Though on the inside he's like PLEASE DON'T BE EXCITED ABOUT THAT. ]

But before I get there, you might have to put up a fight. It's easier to run, of course, so you should do that when you can. But in case you're trapped... Do you have a weapon on you?

Ummm...

[She pulls her palette knife out of her pocket.]

This is for my psych. It slashes, but I haven't practiced.

[And then she bends down and pulls an actual real knife out of her bag.]

And I found this! I found it in the sky.

Edited 2018-03-26 09:11 (UTC)

[He laughs incredulously.]

You actually picked a knife up that day...

Well, okay. That's good! That's really smart of you, Mary.

Everyone knows that you can use a knife to kill, right? But if you kill people, you'll go to trial. Then you might get caught. Then you might die. I don't want you to die.

So don't use your knife to kill people, okay? Only use it to fight them off. I'll kill them for you.

[Mary looks silently down at her weapons, turning them over in her hands.]

You think they'd still vote for me even if I was attacked first?

[It's a rhetorical question, in the end. She understands them--understand that they wouldn't want to vote for her but probably would. Even if nobody wanted to see her die, who else would they vote for? It all depends on the circumstances of the trial at hand. Not, of course, that she has any plans to face any kind of trial.]

I don't want to die, either. I'd wait for you to kill them for me.

[Repeating his words so he knows she understands, she adds her own addendum.]

And if that happened, I wouldn't let anyone catch you!

[He smiles warmly at her. She's smart, but still so innocent. He can't let her kill anyone, no matter how prepared she seems to be for the task. She doesn't deserve to go through that.]

Thanks, Mary. But, just in case... Hey, do you mind if I borrow that?

[The knife that fell from the sky, that is.]

I guuuuess I don't mind.

[Not that she's handing it over immediately. She looks from Shinshin to the knife and then back up again.]

What are you gonna do with it?

Don't worry, don't worry. I won't use it on you, and it'll only take just a second. I'll give it back right away.

[ He holds out a pinky. ]

I promise.

Well, okay!

[She trusts him, so she grabs his pinky with one hand while handing him off the knife with her other.]

[ They pinky swear on it. Good, good. He doesn't have a knife of his own, so he takes the handle of hers.

Then, he takes a lock of his long, silky hair and measures just how much he needs to cut. ]

Mary, what was your entry fee?

[Mary's expression gets stiff, and then very sad at the question.]

...it's hard to say.

[But she does say, because Shinshin is allowed to know whatever he wants about her.]

I couldn't figure out what it was at first, because I just kind of felt the same...but then I realized that I couldn't feel anything from anybody. Does that make sense?

[She's not even sure it does to herself so she adds even more weakly:]

It feels like nobody really likes me, like I'm just being lied to. I don't know what it means, but I think that's what was taken from me: other people liking me.

[ Assassin is proud of his appearance. His skin is smooth, his body is strong, and his hair is beautiful. If there is anything he can immediately take pride in, it's this. This is what he grooms for whatever praise might come his way. This is what he cultivates for whoever might come to love him.

The sadness in her voice is what does it.

In his palm is now a length of his hair — a tendril thin and uneven enough to be reasonably found in a struggle. ]

In case I can't make it in time, use this.

What's it for?

[She's trying to understand, but it's not the kind of gesture she's ever been given before. It's a pretty unusual situation. She takes the hair carefully, holding it like a treasure in the palm of her hand.]

Maybe there'll come a time when I can't save you. Maybe you'll have to fend for yourself, you know? I don't want that to happen, but...

[ He puts the knife down, then curls Mary's hand around the lock of hair. ]

In case you kill someone, leave this behind. They send everyone looking for evidence, right? When they find this, they definitely won't come for you.

[Mary's face contorts as it sinks in: he's saying he'd take the fall for her. Her cheeks color, her lips shaking so hard that her heartbreaking frown is almost angry.]

I don't know why you'd do that for me.

[The things that he's said gives her the information she needs to understand, but the emotional block from her entry fee makes it hard for it to come through the way that it needs to. Mary nods--because she'll do anything to win, but also because she can tell that Shinshin isn't the kind of person you just argue with. If this is what he's set his mind on, this is how it's going to be.]

I won't lose this. I think it's the biggest gift I've ever gotten.

[ Though he smiles, his heart aches. They are both tragic characters who want their happy-ever-afters. He wants his place in the stars, to survive, to live. Setz's words echoes in his mind, voicing Eleanor's wishes. But... if he is destined to fall here, he wants a death he can take pride in. ]

Really? I'm glad. I always know what a girl wants, after all.

[ But no more jokes. He gets on one knee, presses a palm to his fist and bows. ]

If you would kindly receive this offering, then as one of the 108 Stars of Destiny, it would be my greatest honor.

[Although what he says are pretty words that don't really mean anything to her with her limited young knowledge, they're still pretty, pretty word. Mary nods again, keeping his lock of hair save in her closed fist as she dots at the corners of her eyes.]

I do receive your offering and I'll keep it safe.

[Keep it safe and hope she never, ever has to use it. With her hands curled up to her chest and Shinshin's form bowed before her, Mary leans in and plants a sweet kiss onto his forehead where his bangs are parted.]

Week 2, Post-Trial: Shinshin

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