bladeisme | Week 4, post execution

Week 4, post execution - All Reaper Meeting

[Today...

Had been a hell of a thing. He hadn't expected to get an extra execution and go down a member in the same day, but -

It was almost a blessing. Now, they could go all out - and not worry about what would happen next, or leaks from people they worked with. Now, everything was set - and they only had three more weeks to go.

The time for hiding and trying to kill each other had passed. Now? If they wanted the dead to come back, there was only one option available to them.

To work together, and lead the players to the conclusion the Composer wanted.

Ichigo tells everyone to meet up in the Bookstore, a few hours after the execution and everything has settled down. He's sitting on the couch in there, reading - or trying to read and failing - as everyone shuffles in, looking up whenever someone arrives. And when they're all there?

He takes a breath,and closes his book.]

...So.

Let's talk.

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[listen, they all deserve McFlurries]

[anyway, while she broods, Akira is going to come up next to her and gently nudge her shoulder with his]

[ she tries to relax. it. doesn't really work. ]

Hey, Akira.

[he understands. it's been a long week, especially for her]

How are you holding up, Alex?

Not, uhh... Not great.

[ on one hand she feels like she has a bigger claim to stress than him right now, but. it's not a competition. and the reality is: things are getting difficult for his faction. but most of all? it just feels weird to get asked that and not ask it back. ]

Hhhhhhhow about you?

[he can't help it. he laughs. he may still be tense, but enough time has passed between now and the execution for him to release some of it. he's spoken to enough people that all of his feelings on the execution have been laid bare. so. . .]

Been better. Not sure I've been worse, but that means all there is to do from here is go up, right?

[ she looks like she's trying to smile? for a second? but then just gives up. ]

Sure. [ been worse...? the hell that Alex lived in was specifically to save Jonas. so - yeah. it was worse. but at least he was okay. and right now she doesn't have that guarantee yet. ] Sure.

[at least 90% of the reason they're here is because they want to save the Erased, right? on that, they are one unified front]

Hey.

[he gives her another nudge]

Don't force it if you're not feeling it, okay? But we'll save him.

I swear to it.

I'd be more confident in that if we were sure of what we're doing.

But... We're not.

[ this is all just their desperate attempt at something that's out of their hands. ]

We aren't.

[that's not very comforting, is it?]

But neither are the Players, you know? And if anything, they need more time to figure it out.

Isn't that all this alliance will give them? More time?

[time to hit eight weeks. to understand what it is they have to do to save the Erased]

Time doesn't solve problems. [ hm... ]

If they don't get on the right track, soon, it's pointless. If they just keep killing each other, like they've already started to...

[she isn't wrong. Akira's smile is wry]

Hey, Alex. . .

Why did you decide to become a Reaper?

[this is related, I swear]

Because I was stuck in a time rift with 96 ghosts, watching my friends die again and again, reliving that same night for eternity.

[ you know. normal stuff. ]

Why?

[THAT. . . THAT'LL DO IT]

I guess my reason may seem pretty naive, then.

[ha]

I became a Reaper because I wanted to give back what the Reapers in my last Game had given to me. Because I wanted to support and guide Players towards becoming better people. Because I wanted them to grow and change, so they could live out their second chance at life to the fullest.

. . . it may be pointless to give the Players more time if they don't get on the right track soon. But I believe that's part of the reason we're here.

We need to guide them. Don't we?

[ Alex has to mull this over for a minute. because - yes. that is naive. people die, and despite her job, and despite her hypocritical desire to save whoever she can, just like Akira is saying... Alex is also at peace with the whole concept. people die, and this is a game about a second chance. that's great, and she wants to give it to them, but it's not something they are owed just for having the potential to grow as people.

honestly it's - all paradoxical. her attitudes toward death and her job. how she does her job.

... she still wants to help people. she still wants to save who she can. all that seems impossible to articulate. ]

Yeah, yeah.

[it may be paradoxical, it may seem contradictory, but hey. weren't all people that way? in the end, so long as she tries. . . Akira will be there, right alongside her]

I never apologized for lying to you, by the way.

[as though she hadn't also lied to him]

So-- I'm sorry about that.

[ she's been - trying not to think about this. But with the mention of it... ]

That's not what I'm mad at you for.

[. . . oh]

[he blinks, clearly surprised at that response]

What are you mad at me for. . .?

How do you think it feels to stand by yourself and watch everyone flock to comfort your brother's murderer?

[. . . . . . oh]

[he pauses for a long moment, before he looks away from her, expression softening. there's something akin to guilt on his features. guilt and understanding?]

Shitty.

[pretty damn shitty. he gets it]

I'm sorry; you have every right to be angry.

[but Akira's perspective. . . was also a weird one. considering his position in this Game-- the role the Composer has given him-- was to decide who lives and who dies every single week]

[casting judgment on Miki, when he is who he is? felt. . . hypocritical]

[ see, Alex can forgive Reaper kills. she's a Reaper too. there are rules. there's a script. you can only deviate from the script so much.

but a Player doesn't have those rules. Miki killed for love, sure, but people die, and you can't undo it. and if you choose to try to undo it by trading? that's an even weaker choice. ]

I know I do.

[ but, well. they're teammates, now. they've got an alliance going on, and - here's the thing? the people who comforted Miki? they were some of the people Alex liked the most.

she tries to look casual. tries to make a joke. she's usually so good at those. ]

But, hey. No one knew how to handle me when Michael died, either.

[it's only now that he's realizing the depths of his fuck up, especially since Alex-- along with Miki, actually-- is also one of the people he likes here the most. it's. . . complicated]

[he turns back to her, brows raised]

Michael?

[ yeah. Alex had liked Miki, too.

she leans back a bit in her seat. ]

My real brother.

[oh]

. . . what happened to him?

He drowned.

I - asked him to take me swimming. Before he moved away, when he graduated.

[oh no]

Alex. . .

[god. it's natural for Jonas's death to hit her hard already. but in conjugation with that memory?]

Do you. . . blame yourself?

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