[WEEK 1, FRIDAY POST-INVESTIGATION: Akira]

[spinatalltale]

[it isn't until sometime late evening that Magilou finally seeks him out, having wanted to give him a little space to. . . uh. have his feelings. she's no good with those, and she knows it. and even if she was a dramatic shitposter until the end of time, she wasn't in the business of rubbing salt on wounds or breaking people's hearts]

[. . . much, anyway]

[she finds him on the jungle paths, a hop to her step as she approaches, expression as lazy and languid as ever. she has her journal tucked under one arm, the quill poking out from the yellowed pages]

Baaaaby Trickster. ☆

I need a favor from you.

[OKAY MAGILOU. . .]

Comments

[spinatalltale]

I don't tend to ask questions to which I'm not interested in the answers.

Why are you so reticent, anyway?

[don't be dubious Akira!!]

[jokered]

[well, at least she'll get an honest answer here.]

I'm not used to it. [talking. talking about himself, or his life, or his friends.]

[spinatalltale]

[. . . you know]

[weirdly enough]

[that honest response doesn't elicit any weird dramatics or teasing from her, just a slow, understanding nod]

It never really gets easy.

[but she perks up again pretty quickly]

But I assure you, it's for a good cause!

[jokered]

I'm better suited for listening.

[just the tiniest bit of insight on the kind of life he leads, maybe?]

Haru, though. [he sobers up a little—it seems like he really will talk about her.]

She was the only daughter of a powerful businessman. It made her life hard and sheltered, but... she did her best. She was warm and kind, and very gentle. She didn't like the idea of people deciding her path in life for her.

It made her rebellious, but never to hurt people. Even after her father was killed, she wanted to bring justice without stooping to that level. Even when she hated someone, she could sympathize with their struggles.

[wow, magilou. you're getting words out of him.] She kept a rooftop garden at our school with vegetables. She loved trying new blends of coffee. She...

[...hold on, he needs a second. this hits a little too close to home.] She wanted to open a cafe, serving food with the things she grew and her own blends of coffee, too.

[it's almost like a cafe matters? hm.]

[spinatalltale]

[her own demeanor sobers as he speaks, expression becoming uncharacteristically contemplative and serious. her quill moves with every word that tumbles from his mouth, and she says nothing to interrupt]

[when he pauses, she glances up from her journal, just to make sure that he's done]

[jokered]

None of this will make sense, but put it down anyway.

[he adds just a few words.]

Milady. Astarte. Psy. Fleur de Mar. Miliana.

[spinatalltale]

[damn Magilou for not being from Earth so she doesn't recognize a SINGLE ONE OF THOSE PHRASES]

. . . code language. . .?

[jokered]

Persona.

[and one more.]

Noir. A Phantom.

[that's it.]

They're all. Connected to something close to her.

[spinatalltale]

[. . . ah]

[she scrawls all those words and phrases down in her book, just as requested]

How curious.

[there's a secret here, something to be pried into and torn open and exposed for what it is. but she doesn't for the life of her know what it might be, so she doesn't ask]

[not yet]

[jokered]

[maybe if she goes about this the right way, she'll learn more. there's definitely a secret here.

which akira doesn't seem to be making a secret here. there's a tie to the look he often has in his eyes and these words, but he knows she'll never figure it out, either.]

It's part of talking about her. They're too entwined, and those parts need to be remembered too—even if nobody else can understand them.

[spinatalltale]

[she nods]

. . . as you say.

Some secrets simply aren't meant to be shared.

[jokered]

[he nods.]

There's one more thing.

[but maybe it's a little less about haru specifically and more about... the circumstances.]

[spinatalltale]

Oh?

[she's engrossed in her book, putting the finishing touches on whatever it is she's writing, but nevertheless she's all ears]

[jokered]

Haru's father... he was murdered in a bad way, right in front of her eyes. In front of all our eyes.

[yeah. he. saw that.

he had to see two okumuras die.]

They tried to frame... someone for that. Someone who definitely wasn't responsible.

[jazzhands. remember this, magilou, it's important.]

[spinatalltale]

["in front of all of our eyes," don't think she missed that phrasing buddy]

Was it you?

[like]

[okay]

[at least she isn't subtle about it]

[jokered]

Sort of.

[akira, what.]

They did arrest me on that charge.[...] They didn't care whether or not I really did it, though.

[obviously, he did not actually do it.]

It happened on TV. Live. For the whole country to see. That was how we saw it too. [like he mentioned before, tv's kind of a big deal. but that just gives more context to the fact that even though they saw him die, he didn't actually kill someone?]

[spinatalltale]

Sort of.

[how is his answer "sort of" when he was arrested on that charge??? smh Akira]

[at any rate, she believes him when he says he didn't do it. not because she doesn't think he's capable of killing (jury is still out on that one) but because she doubts he'd murder the father of someone so precious to him]

It sounds like your true killer was trying to make an example of him.

[jokered]

No, they were trying to make an example of someone else. But they were trying to make an example, alright.

[but akira doesn't seem to be willing to expand on that yet. who they wanted to make an example of, or why.]

The point is... it feels deliberate. [obviously, he doesn't know the context of the murder. but haru dying in a grotesque way—

that, he's sure, is intentional.]

[spinatalltale]

[she can make her own assumptions on who the unfortunate "example" was, just based on what Akira has said so far. he and several others watched Haru's father die on television. Akira himself was "sort of" framed for that death. he was then later arrested on that charge, and the men who took him in cared little about his actual guilt]

[whoever killed that man was trying to make an example out of Akira then, right? Akira. . . and maybe the group of people he so very subtly referred to earlier]

[the gears in her mind creak and turn, but again, she doesn't ask]

You think they're attempting to target you specifically by having your friend killed in a similar way to her father.

[god the implications of that are gross in so many ways]

[jokered]

[nobody ever said he was actually good at being subtle. maybe this is why he's a silent protagonist... because as soon as they let him speak too much, he gives away his angle.

at least here, it's slightly more purposeful and less risky in some ways. even if magilou could use this against him. well.

it would be par for the course. for how his life works, at least.

but he doesn't confirm what magilou says, glossing it over to make another point.]

Maybe they think it's humorous. [though akira doesn't really believe that.

or. well, he does, but he thinks the chiefs are trying to provoke him. trying to make him (and everyone else) play the game by making an example of haru for everyone to see.]

[spinatalltale]

That does seem about par for the course for them.

["humor," fear and intentional provocation were the only reason she could think of that the killer would have disposed of Haru's body that way]

But no one says there can't be multiple reasons behind one action. Humor, causing fear, intentionally provoking the pieces into playing their game, exerting their control over our group. . .

[she delivers each possibility in an even tone, like she's reciting the lunch menu or something]

[jokered]

[he doesn't disagree, though obviously...

being intentionally provoked doesn't sit well with him. he bristles a bit, shaking off the thought before nodding.]

It doesn't matter what the reason is.

[haru's still dead. someone still killed haru and did that to her, and akira has no doubt that the methodology was intentional.]

[spinatalltale]

It's still pretty tacky.

["tacky" is kind of an understatement, Magilou, don't you think. she taps her quill against her chin]

It's that last reason that irritates me the most, I suppose.

[jokered]

[it's understandable, magilou.]

They're all pretty good reasons. [he sighs, quiet. it's a shitty situation, no matter the reason.]

[spinatalltale]

[hmphs]

[there's a pause--]

Hey.

You know you're not really as subtle as you think you are, right?

[??? Where'd that come from??]