Week 3 - Sunday

[bladeisme]

[It's been a long, long weekend. It's one that Izaya has probably watched like the creeper he is, noting that on friday, Ichigo went into the bar and practically never came out - that he's been drinking not for enjoyment, but to knock himself out the quickest - and he's been pointedly ignoring his partner, who he was practically glued to the hip at in the weeks before.

But it takes until Sunday, when Ichigo sobers up enough to finally make his way over to Izaya, looking miserable as he draws the other man into somewhere safe and secure so they can talk.]

Izaya....

[Ichigo presses a hand against his face, swallowing hard.]

I...I think Akira's a Reaper.

Comments

[bladeisme]

[He gulps - wiping at his face, trying to stop the tears that're still overflowing.]

I...It's a long story, but...if you're willing to hear it, then...

[...Maybe - Maybe it's alright to talk about it now.]

You saw my cause of death, right? That was - something I was manipulated into, as a ritual to keep the worlds of the living and the dead in balance.

[He sets down the cup of water, threading his fingers together and looking down as he talks, a tear still dripping from his cheek every now and then.]

I didn't realize I'd die for it until it was already underway, and when I finally died...I woke up in a Game. The Composer - he's someone who'd love this kind of Game - judges the souls that go through the Game and see if they're worthy enough to be reincarnated back in the world of the living.

...It's ironic, isn't it? I gave my life and my body to be the thing that holds the worlds in balance, and I had to fight for my right to be reborn. I went through a Game that was - have you ever seen that movie, Battle Royale...? It was kind of like that.

[He pauses for a moment, remembering...and then shakes his head.]

I ended up surviving, but...I couldn't be reborn. My spiritual body had been encased in crystal, and it was only my consciousness that had died during the ritual. I wasn't really dead, but...I wasn't alive, either.

So he made me an offer. He could return my consciousness back to my spiritual body, or I could become a Shinigami - a Reaper - that worked under him.

It wasn't really a choice.

[voyeur]

[It was something he'd wondered about, yes. The cause of death seemed over the top. A ritual purpose explains it.]

That's also why you weren't able to choose full Erasure as a way out. Correct? You aren't truly dead.

[bladeisme]

Mmm, not exactly. I can be Erased now, just like anybody else - because I was given a Reaper's body, my connection to my spiritual one got severed. It's probably still half-alive in the Royal Realm, along with my other body parts. But if I lost my Reaper body...I don't know if I'd be Erased all the way, or just end up back where I started.

I don't really want to find out.

[He shrugs again.]

Anyway, at the end of the game, I only had one way out. And my Composer's enough of a bastard that I decided to keep going instead of dying - because of all the souls that'd suffer at his hands.

[He looks down at his own, pulling them apart and staring at them as if he expects to see blood on them.]

...So....I had to get strong enough to take him down. And do whatever he asked me to, no matter how much I didn't want to.

[voyeur]

That kind of Composer... is probably one that's very tricky to take down. Even by the standards of Composers.

[bladeisme]

I know. This was probably his way of getting me out of the way before I got strong enough and he got complacent enough to underestimate me.

But...What else can I do? I can't - I can't abandon them. A game like this - he'll probably run one as soon as I come back, there's absolutely no way he's not furiously taking notes and talking about experimental data or whatever.

[He runs a hand through his hair, sighing.]

...You've - got large wings. I...don't know your game, or your composer...But I'm glad that you haven't had to kill Players as much as I've had to.

[voyeur]

Honestly... I wouldn't say I'm a kind person. Probably, there are people who would call me a villain. I'd rather say I'm someone who has taken his hobby too far, but if someone wanted to hate me for it, I wouldn't disagree.

Even so, I wouldn't like working for a Composer like that. [He smiles. There is a bitterness in it.] After all... The only lie in my performance when I killed Dahlia... was simply a dishonesty of 'when' it happened.

Anthy doesn't sound bad compared to what you have.

[bladeisme]

[...Izaya is -

He's someone Ichigo can never quite figure out, honestly. Every time he tries, it's like he reaches a wall or a bend in the road, and Izaya's himself runs off, defying understanding.

Yet, at this moment - for some reason, Ichigo feels like he understands, if only a little bit.

He really is someone who loves humanity, isn't he? For better or for worse.]

...She's a little better, yeah. And - it's nice to know that the whole thing with Dahlia wasn't entirely fake.

[There's a long moment of silence, and then -]

...So...what now? If Akira is a Reaper, then...what do we do?