pc: akihiko

[sacredpath]

Comments

saturday 0

[sacredpath]

[well, very soon after the new locations are made available, shadowheart can be found at the clothing store. it seems to have been her second stop after the bar, where she picked up a glass of something to go. she's still wearing her long white sexy angel costume, but she's perusing the racks and pulling out anything that looks goth.]

That will do, I think. Much better.

[ziosar]

[Akihiko had just entered. He had stopped when he saw how...extensive the store seemed to be at a first glance. He was a man on a mission, already knowing what sort of thing he wanted, but he was wandering aimlessly, trying to figure out where what he wanted was at.

From the looks of Shadowheart being able to find several goth things in here, this store truly has everything one could need. Akihiko seems relieved]

Good. I had been concerned there'd only be more angel costumes and fake wings.

[sacredpath]

And yet you came here all the same. Growing comfortable with the assignment, perhaps?

[ziosar]

Being adaptable is half of the battle! If it turned out I was right, I'd have just taken several clean costumes and worn them without complaint.

[Well, not without complaint because he's not easygoing enough for that, but he'd have worn them if that's what needed to be done. Still, he's a little more comfortable with things in general right now]

week 0; monday

[sacredpath]

[she's wearing a beach outfit! because that's where we are, the beach. she's walking along the shore, staying along the edge of the tide so just her feet get wet.]

...It really is beautiful, isn't it?

[ziosar]

[Oh, wow. I like her style of outfits, honestly]

It is...I agree.

[Akihiko doesn't have his beach outfit right now. He should be feeling the heat due to his usual uniform, but he's shrugging that off while he stares into the distance like he's entranced by the sights]

It's a welcome change from the neighborhood. Staying in heaven forever is not my plan at all...but with a place like this one the wait until the time to leave will be alright.

[Because the beach means sea, and the sea means some good, challenging swimming. That's the beauty he sees to this place -- and he doesn't give any thought that others likely would see a different perk to this all. He thinks the possibility of some training by swimming will be excellent, already planning ahead. If he can get good swimming, and not have a repeat of the pains of his game's Operation Babe Hunt, he'll be satisfied]

[sacredpath]

I don't plan to stay here forever, either.

[she doesn't have any plans to indulge in swimming or babe hunts, though. she's just enjoying the water.]

[ziosar]

[...say...]

Do you believe them? The angels, saying that all about redemption.

[Akihiko is cautiously optimistic, really, but he already got burned by someone setting him and others to do a task that turned out to have entirely different goals than expected. Of course after that whole thing, he'd be pretty guarded about something vague like heaven's redemption policy. It could all be a huge lie]

[sacredpath]

I don't think they're lying, although I doubt we've heard the entire truth just yet.

[ziosar]

That'd be just as bad as lying from the start.

[Maybe even worse because you're deceived for longer, or something]

[sacredpath]

...Really, you think so? People lie by omission all the time. Are you going to always take offense to it?

[ziosar]

Just because it happens all the time doesn't mean I have to like it.

[Although it's not like he never lies. If anything, the last few days he's been lying all over the place because he's at least trying not to get supernatural stuff into conversations]

week 1; monday

[sacredpath]

[she's out here at night wearing a cheap wig while being menaced by spider skeletons.]

But spiders don't have bones!

[ziosar]

[Sorry for taking a bit to respond -- I needed to pace myself a little, yup.

Shadowheart is getting accosted by skeletal spiders, and Akihiko isn't doing much better, not too far from her]

Biological accuracy might be the least of anyone's worries here!

[He says that because a shark is biting him. It's a big enough skeleton it has engulfed like half of his torso. It'd be more alarming if its teeth were sharp instead of blunt, for some reason, but that doesn't change that he's losing a struggle against a living Halloween decoration]

[sacredpath]

[oh... she will grab a jack-o-lantern and try to bash it over the shark's head.]

Stop it!

[though she's not being accosted, the skeletons don't really move. so maybe he just sort of fell into the shark's mouth.]

[ziosar]

[Most likely, really. He probably was near some group of random skeletons that suddenly moved to try to give him candy, and as someone really used to fighting abnormal things trying to kill him, coupled with a complete aversion to the cursed food all over heaven, he probably reacted somewhat rashly. One thing led to another, mistakes happened, and here he is now.

Smashing the jack-o-lantern on the shark skeleton loosens it enough to make it fall. Akihiko rubs where it had been clamped on him, annoyed he got in this kind of shenanigans in the first place]

What happened to just having bowls for anyone to take candy from?

[It'd have been much simpler and less likely to get him into some embarrassing situations]

[sacredpath]

[it is a normal misunderstanding i made, to assume fake skeletons are moving around.]

...Oh. It's just another fake.

[why are these things so terrifying.]

[ziosar]

[With how murdergames are like, that's a very plausible thought]

They better be, all of them. Something about this whole place has me on edge. It's like being surrounded by enemies...

[He's been seeing all these different unnatural boney shapes in the dark from the corner of his eye because there are just way too many skeletons around here. It's going to take a long while for his honed battle instincts to stop telling him danger might come all of a sudden.]

[sacredpath]

It's a very odd festival. Usually when I see sculptures of bones, there's some sort of malevolent cult about.

[ziosar]

Are those common where you came from?

[Malevolent cults, he means]

week 1; friday

[sacredpath]

[voids you voids you voids you.]

I can't say I'm surprised.

[but her lips are pressed tightly together, concerned, while purple and black smoke blooms on her skin like bruises. she's upset, even if she's not saying it.]

[ziosar]

[Akihiko has his arms crossed, taking deep breaths]

...I'm not surprised either -- I was prepared for something and tried to deal with it.

[By filling himself with way too much caffeines. Didn't work and now he feels indescribably awful physically]

The part I didn't expect was that two of the people I was with would be dead in the morning.

[He's not blaming himself but now he wishes maybe he should have said something more to them last night]

[sacredpath]

Oh? Where were you staying last night, then?

[somewhere lively...]

[ziosar]

The market. I assumed there'd be many people there.

[And he was right. It was a cozy time]

[sacredpath]

Why all of you wanted to be outside in the snow is beyond me, but alright. So both were there, too?

[ziosar]

I heard some really wanted to watch the fireworks. There were sleeping bags and sparklers, too.

[Very festive! Not everyone was into that, but oh well]

That Brimstone guy kept trying to break the barrier, and Adolphe spent his time with Proust and Yves. Nothing seemed off about anyone.

[He has heard about Jing Yuan behaving differently, so he appends that]

[sacredpath]

Of course he was.

[causing problems to the very last... it's almost nostalgic.]

[ziosar]

He wanted to make the barrier explode.

[That does feel nostalgic even though it was just a few hours ago. That idea was shot down real quick, but damn, maybe they should have given that a try after all]

[sacredpath]

I'm sure he did.

[it would have been good enrichment at least.]

I suppose we've no leads on what caused it, then.

[ziosar]

None. But--

[Hm. Well, may as well mention it, since it'll come up at the trial]

I'm sore on my stomach. So are a few others I talked with. We don't have bruises or anything like that, but something happened.

[It's as if he got hit, but he's got no idea who or why. Could have been one of the victims, could be a culprit...but it's something everyone felt, apparently]

[sacredpath]

Like a stomach ache, or like an injury?

[ziosar]

Like an injury.

[It's more annoying than painful, really, but it exists and that's abnormal enough to warrant taking note of it]

week 1; saturday

[sacredpath]

[she's at the mansion lobby after trial, sitting on her own. tired enough that she looks a little unwell, but she'll wave all the same.]

That was fun, wasn't it?

[ziosar]

[Akihiko looks rather stressed. Is that better than being exhausted from all that happened?

Probably not]

I'm still reeling from that vote at the end. That single hour took years off my life.

[Well at least he's still fine enough to say some deadpan comment]

[sacredpath]

I'm sure.

[there's no other way to react to any of it, really.]

What did you wind up doing?

[ziosar]

I voted for Firefly.

[He's fine with admitting that, really, even though he's not sure it was the right one]

Since that tree appeared I was sure someone would go for what it offered. I guess that's what tipped the scale in that direction.

[That, as things stand, Firefly might have taken the decision to end a life, while having a clear mind]

[sacredpath]

I'm a little surprised. I didn't think many would vote for her, given how even if there was reason to think she might have done it for the apples, there was nothing even close to proof.

[ziosar]

I probably made a mistake. I can admit that. I should have tried to actually listen to her more.

That's why I intend to seek her and see where things go now.

[The lack of a time limit of less than an hour to take tense life-or-death decisions probably will help. He's not very good at empathizing with anyone he distrusts -- and during the trial he sure didn't trust neither Firefly nor Hawke at all -- but now that it's over he's going to put a whole lot of effort to overcome that and address the elephant in the room with Firefly]

[sacredpath]

Fair enough. I doubt she'll admit to anything, one way or another. I don't think the reasons there was distrust of her were wrong, just...

[not provable one way or another.]

[ziosar]

[Akihiko nods, and decides to ask in turn:]

Got any regrets on how you voted?

[He already figures out she voted for Hawke, so instead he asks if she feels she took the...the "right" decision. With a whole lot of quote marks because really, there was nothing right about this situation!]

[sacredpath]

Not really.

[not because she thinks it was obviously the right decision or not complicated, but.]

I just think it had to go the way it went.

[ziosar]

And now Anders is going to have to handle Hawke's fate. No way anybody else will be called to do that. I know he can do it-- [He already tried to do so right in front of everyone, after all] --but I'm more worried for what comes after that.

[Because that sure will hurt Anders, a lot! He's worried because, well, Akihiko talked to Anders before the trial, and he had seen how determined he had been. To have gone in with such energy, only to crash with the inevitable fact Hawke had killed...yeah, poor guy]