003 | ❝Expose your thoughts...❞

[pitiedthefool]

Characters: Yu Narukami (pitiedthefool), open to all
Setting: Floor 14, Floor 15, Floor 28, Floor 38, or wherever!
Format: Starting in action spam, but I'll follow you!
Summary: Just your average day as a life of a protagonist...
Warnings: I want your friendships and I want your rank ups, you and me could have rad social liiiiinks~

Floor Fifteen

[He had been working on this for a very, very long time- almost since he first arrived nearly two months ago. It wasn't perfect like Daidara-san's work - no, not by a long shot, but he was finally putting the finishing touches on his own blade. Though, he had decided to take a break from finishing the hilt earlier... if the item beside him was any indication.]

Your Choice

[It's April 27th... and someone's birthday. He definitely made them something, but the question is... where to find them?]

[> You begin your search for a certain detective, but will it only be Naoto-kun that you bump into?]

Floor Fourteen

[He hasn't been to this floor for a long time, but right now... he doesn't mind the break. Yu sits in a corner of the room, watching others playing video games with one earpiece on and the other lying there, hanging off his jacket. People from his world may recognize the voice as "Risette," but really-- he only knows her as Rise...]

[So many of his friends have been hurting lately, and he has no idea where to begin to help them other than continue to lend a helping hand and an ear to listen. Sometimes he wishes they would see that he's never too busy to help them, but other times... What do you even say to someone who can't tell you the problem they're facing?]

[...Maybe he should join the others and play something for a change.]

Floor Twenty-Eight

[The music floor...]

[He really has no problems with it, the instruments sometimes playing on their own. But this time, he finds an instrument that he knows well enough- something he hasn't played in a few months, now. If someone stumbles upon him, they'll hear a single trumpet playing something both hopeful yet melancholic, just a little louder than anything else around.]

Floor Thirty-Eight

[At the end of the day, he can be found on the thirty-eighth floor, staring out the windows to the outside with his newly-forged sword at his side. The height doesn't scare him, and the view isn't too bad... but it partly reminds him of being up on the hilltop overlooking the small town he made so many memories in.]

[Yu is silent, simply sitting there in one of the over-sized chairs with a small notebook in hand. He's almost done with the account of their journey, one no one would ever believe aside from their own...]

Comments

[pitiedthefool]

[Izanagi knows this full well, but can you truly blame him for missing you after so long and not truly being able to be with you just yet? He only wishes to say hello. Probably a good idea, especially for humans when birth defects are rather common with offspring of close relatives... He nods slightly at the assessment. In part, he has been doing well- having avoided death many times simply because of luck so far, but...]

...Ah. Better than others I've seen. [...He glances from her face down to the book in his lap. Would he truly be sitting here now, like this, had none of it even happened-? If he hadn't specifically chosen to never give up the hope that had nearly been stolen so many times now? Learning of the truth behind Izanagi and Izanami's story caused him to think for quite a long time about it, how much 'fate' played a part in his growth. If one tiny thing had played out differently... what would he have been like? Like Namatame-san? Or... even worse, Adachi-san?]

[It didn't mean that he was completely over being used like he had been, or what almost happened because of her actions- of all of their actions. It hurt to know just how close he'd been to losing everything after all the time he spent to protect what he began to cherish in reality...]

Though I wonder if we're in over our heads at times. [Now his heart aches for those who are hurting here, and Yosuke's words are still on his mind.]

[thousandcurses]

[Izanami will watch him a moment, turning his words over a moment in her head. It's a question she's considered herself, from time to time, and after a moment, she sighs.]

...It's entirely possible that we are. Even I seem to be lacking in control here, at the mercy of this dreadful place. I could not help anyone if I tried, it seems.

[pitiedthefool]

[To be honest, he almost hoped to not hear those words. So hearing them anyway, albeit having partially expected it and it confirming their suspicions about even gods being subject to this place, he can't help but wonder exactly what all had been tried to break free of these horrors and what could be done.]

I don't know about not being able to help...

[He sighs, looking from the book to her face. He knew at least one more truth he was willing to face her with.]

If there's anything I learned the last year, it's this: sometimes the only thing others need is someone to be there for them. Even if our actions were used to 'stir the wills of mankind into madness'... [And there was indeed a hint of indignance there...] -there were still others who benefited just by having someone listen and help shoulder their pain.

[A pause.] ...Just a little push.

And then Yu gave Izanami a pep talk.

[thousandcurses]

[That earns a chuckle. Just a little push, huh? Just like she gave him.]

Perhaps. Though I am surprised anyone would wish for my help.

[Though there is a hint of playfulness to it. She's not exactly the first person someone would turn to--death goddess, after all. But perhaps she should seek out those who need help, like she unconsciously did with Yu.]

He is the representative of hope for a reason, dangit.

[pitiedthefool]

[There is a reason he chooses the words he does, along with making Izanagi smirk inside his head. What can he say; they've become as close to friends as a man and a god-persona can get.]

I know I didn't, but... [He pauses, shaking his head.] Part of me is glad that you did, Izanami-sama.

[Though really, WAS THAT LAST FIGHT TRULY NECESSARY? Because someone still has nightmares about it...]

[thousandcurses]

[Yes. Yes, it was, Yu. Deal with it.]

You are no longer lonely, correct?

[She knows you well enough, knows the signs. She read you like an open book that day they first met.]

[pitiedthefool]

[And you wonder why he doesn't like you so much... :|b He sighs, frowning at the goddess. While the honest answer is a 'yes,' there was still a pain of separation- something he'd feared for quite some time...]

Because I can still feel them. [He nods slightly regardless.] ...Was I really that easy of a read?

[Stupid question considering who he's speaking to, but still. He'd pushed others away by holding himself together on his own for so long for a reason. ...Until he met her the first time and then Igor later putting his foot down.]

[thousandcurses]

[Hey. Look at all the good that's come out of it.]

For one who was just as lonely, yes. You were,

[She'll offer a faint smile, then nod to what he was working on before she came. She's curious.]

What are you working on?

[pitiedthefool]

[That's what comforts him... just a little a lot.

He smirks, just barely at the corners of his lips at that. Lonely, huh. Was that why she'd done what she did in trying to reach out for humanity? ...Gods, did she go about it the wrong way.]

One of my friends arrived from an earlier point in time. [Was that a flicker of sadness? Or, was it slight envy.] I've been writing down what happened for her since.

[He'd promised to face the truth with them, after all... but there's something else on his mind.]

...May I ask you something?