Week 4, Post-Execution: Assassin

[withsadness]

[Maybe it's because losing Izaya and Monika so unexpectedly spooked her, but she goes to find Assassin right away, face still wet from crying. Poor Chuchu is following behind, left in the dust in her panic.]

Shinshin! Shinshin!

[This is important!]

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[shinssin]

[ Ah... Maybe he really isn't good with children.

He crouches down and tries to put on a strong face, however pained it may be. ]

What's wrong, Mary?

[ ... That might be a cruel thing to ask. ]

[withsadness]

I've been thinking about something all day and...and if...someone found your body before a trial...I don't know what I'd do. I don't want to disappear, but would I want to live? What if it's hard?

[She hiccups and wipes her face.]

But I can't make you promise not to die because that's unfair.

[shinssin]

[ ...

He reaches out a gentle hand to hold her cheeks. These hands that have killed now comfort a child who shouldn't need to. ]

Eleanor was a crybaby, just like you.

[ But he can't promise that he'll live. That's unfair to her, too. ]

You have Lenka, right? You like Lenka.

[withsadness]

That isn't the same.

[She puts her hand on top of his. In truth, she's never cried so much, not in her whole life. But now it feels like she can't stop.]

I just want to keep my most important friend safe. I can do that much...at least one time.

[She pulls something out of her pocket and holds it forward. It's...a get out of jail free card!]

Keep this. It'll protect you.

[shinssin]

[ Time stops.

If he had a heart, it would stop here too. ]

But... this is yours. [ He puts it back in her hands and closes her fingers around it. ] This is yours, Mary. Mary...

[ Desperation is in his eyes, and so are the tears about to form. It's not like him to be so selfless. This friendship with Mary — this isn't like him at all. ]

[withsadness]

No, no, I want you to have it!

[She laughs, but it's not a happy laugh, edged with despair as it is.]

Nobody's going to try and kill me because they'd feel too bad! You're hunting down reapers...you've talked about it in trials.

[shinssin]

Aah...

[He's usually smarter than this. He wouldn't put Mary in danger like this, no. If he was anyone other than himself, surely, he would have played this game a little better...

His voice cracks.]

I'm sorry...

[For pushing her to do this. A child shouldn't have to do so much for a man.]

I'll use it well.

[withsadness]

[As soon as he consents, Mary seems to calm down, relief crashing through her body. She takes a deep breath as she presses the card back into his hand again, using both her hands to close his the way he closed her's.]

Thank you. Thank you, Shinshin, that makes me feel better.

[She takes a deep breath, and smiles.]

Knowing that you have this...I can do anything!

[shinssin]

[As he is now, he is a man who has lost everything. What he sought, he could not obtain. What he obtained, he could not grasp. If he was a lesser hero, perhaps he would have fallen into the depths of despair. Perhaps the wicked would have watched him so, as they all do. As they have always done. Born under a demonic star, misfortune is destined to find him.

But.

If he is meant to be a sliver of hope or a ray of light to even one person... So long as his purpose remains on this plane, then that alone is enough for him to keep on living.]

That's good. I always know what a girl wants.

...

Where did you even get this, Mary?

[withsadness]

My friend gave it to me.

[But, they tell each other the truth, so she gives him a more clear answer.]

Izaya gave it to me...with his other belongings. I don't know why but I didn't think it meant that he'd...

[Well. Gestures to the execution.]

[shinssin]

[This time, he bows his head to hide his smile.

Teardrops fall onto the space between them.]

Oh.

[Is this love or another piece on the board? He doesn't know, he doesn't want to think about it, but—

He's so happy.]

Izaya, you bastard...

[withsadness]

[Oh, Ass...]

Were you good friends with Izaya, too?

[She had no idea.]

[shinssin]

Haha, I don't know.

[After the lies, Assassin's not sure why he can't find it in himself to hate him.]

I don't know what else to call him.

[withsadness]

Did he make you mad?

[He sounds so conflicted, like how he was with Terra.]

[shinssin]

[ Like Terra...

Yeah, maybe. ]

A little.

[ Izaya always said self-preservation was his top priority. Was that a lie, too?

Mary doesn't need to know that. ]

But I don't hate him. He never hated me. Or you.

[withsadness]

Yeah...I didn't think so. He was a really funny person, not at all like most people! He had a lot of love to give.

[A strange love...but it was still love. And that love did him in.]

I'm glad you don't hate him.

[shinssin]

Me too.

I hope they're doing okay now. Chuuya's probably bored already. That guy can't stand still without someone to fight.