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[The thing about being somewhere new is that usually, you were supposed to be able to use it as a fresh start. This... is not that. This is a place full of faces he knows - his own face, and Akechi's - and especially with the way the Mona who'd seemed like he was from his other life had reacted to him... it's giving him flashbacks of his record being leaked in Shujin. He keeps almost saying the wrong thing to people, too, used to everyone already knowing.

It's a while after all of that, and he hasn't risked going anywhere near Leblanc. He's scouted around a few places, though, and now he's wound up here at the arcade, playing a vicious game of Gun About. What can he say? It's good for getting rid of all that stress, without risking anyone walking in on him slaughtering shadows in a non-Joker-like way.

That said, even this isn't quite... right. He's too focused, for one thing. A bit too accurate. Nowhere near showy enough, either.

Poke him anyway?]

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[... and Mona's ears flick back again, as he considers not-Joker. He's pretty sure Akechi would have hurt kids. Pretty sure he did. But.]

I guess maybe not if there's nobody here to tell you to do it. [But here's the problem: you never know, with some people, what they'll decide is necessary.]

[He sighs. It takes more work to aim carefully, but his thoughts are distracting.]

Nope. I can do what I want.

[Though that admits there was someone pulling his strings. But if Morgana knows to call him on it, he knows that already. No use pretending.]

It's the same back home, too.

[He tilts his head, thinking about that one with suspicious eyes.]

That sounds pretty good, unless someone asks what you want to do.

It's easy back home. I'm over at Leblanc more than I'm home.

[He'd mentioned he was helping out there before, after all. And that's whenever he's not helping out with Sae's cases and sorting through everything they need to get Akechi out of jail.]

Here? Everything's- weird.

[Again, his ears flick.] Wait. You don't live at Leblanc? You didn't..?

[What a stupid question. Of course this guy "didn't". Look at him. Mona's front claws scrabble, annoyed.]

Akechi lives in Leblanc. I don't. Nice place. Uptown, if you care about that. You'd never guess who my parents were rubbing shoulders with for the past few years.

[It's maybe a little too easy for him to know what Morgana means. But it's useful, too.

"Few," though. He doesn't even think about it.]

Uh, no, you know, I think I could make a guess. [Backing away? Him? Maybe just a little.]

So—your Akechi lives in Leblanc, and, and he's you? And you're him, you go to his school, you were on TV, you—

Were your parents really in Shido's conspiracy?! [Have a full-on yowl, Akira. Mona is so confused.]

[Listens, and - laughs. Just a breathy little "hah. It's not a happy one.]

Be nice if it was all a big misunderstanding, you know? But, nope. Ship and all. Do you know how charming he can be when he wants?

[The arcade game sounds don't quite match his darker mood when thinking about it.]

Adults like them disgust me.

[... because of a sickening human being, that's all it is... it's simply an absurd grudge...

Mona blinks up at him, suddenly all wide, blue eyes again.] Sounds extremely personal.

Can't get more personal than parents.

[He knows the irony of that. All too well.]

Like them or hate them, we're stuck with them one way or another. [Pause. Fire.] Still most of a year until I can move out, too.

[He starts to lick a paw, eyes still distant and steady on Akira.]

You should just leave. Stop what you're doing. Sleep at Leblanc. My guess is Akechi would have you.

He... would. He'd complain, but he'd get it.

[Talking about Akechi in more than just the abstract makes him relax a bit. Go softer. His shots are still finding targets easily enough, but he's less covered in spiky hard edges.]

It's just- we're still working on getting him out of jail. It'd just be me up there for a while. And besides- I don't want the fuss my parents would pull at their perfect son suddenly 'running away from home.'

[... and that brings his own Joker right into the foreground. Only just home.]

Was that Sae Niijima? Akechi, I mean.

That's right. She knows - pretty much everything.

[He's barely paying attention as the game ends. Too caught up in memories of a small room and a drugged Akechi and Sae walking in as he's having a breakdown. He shakes his head to clear it. It's only slightly effective.]

[Again, he sighs—and it is more of a sigh than a growl.]

Something like that happened to Joker. [Still not you, sorry, Akira.] After everything he did, she just swept him off to juvie.

[He's fine with it this time, because there's no blatant rejection of that being his codename.]

I offered to go in his place, back in December. He said he'd gut me and leave me for the Reaper if I tried.

[Only an Akira would talk so fondly of such things. Then again, it is always nice to know someone cares. Even unconventionally.]

Huh, I... [Actually, no.] That does sound like something he'd say, doesn't it.

[This is not fair. Surely he should be mad at Akechi as well?]

And he went in your place, right?

I could've done it. Would've been easy. But this way he gets to testify against Shido, and I get to, you know. Play hero.

[He sighs as he puts the arcade gun away.]

It's nice seeing people appreciate him, at least. I can look forward to the look on his face when he realises everything people have done.

[Would they have done it for him? Given how things have gone, and how Morgana is talking... maybe. Probably. It's academic. Akechi still achieved this. He's alive to appreciate it.]

[This time the growl is a bit more doubtful. Everything sounds so—well, everything is bizarroworld, is how it sounds, but it also sounds familiar. Just... reversed.

But then there are things like this. The two of them alive. Or—

For absolutely no reason, Mona turns cold all down his spine. His back arches involuntarily and he puffs up with fear, eyes going dark.]

Morgana? What's wrong?

[He's too used to this being his normal. It's hard to see how weird it'd be.]

I know I'm not your Joker, but...

[He's not sure what to say, and based on previous experience Mona doesn't like him, doesn't trust him.]

Oh, I don't care about that! [Still prickling, Mona gathers himself enough to ask a question.]

What about Maruki? What's he doing?

Maruki? Why- last I knew, nothing important. Haven't actually seen him since- a week ago. When we destroyed his palace.

[Frown. He shifts, ready to move without thinking about it. Maruki is still fresh. Still a sore spot.]

Is it the same for you?

[And as Akira moves, Mona moves, matching his readiness with his claws out and gleaming.]

You destroyed the palace a week ago? And—and Akechi's still, and you're still...?

[Really?... For real? Imagine the tiniest kitten voice you ever heard.]

["Still alive? Yep" - or that's what he wants to say. He shouldn't know either of them should be dead, though.]

We've been working together since November. We make a good team. We're... doing okay. Or he was last I heard.

[He can say that much, right?]

[Again, he flexes his claws. That's... so unfair. And yet...]

Well. I'm glad to hear that. [But then, unfortunately, he remembers himself, in a very Mona way.]

That still doesn't mean I trust you!

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justicesfool - 2023-08-22 17:39 (UTC) - Expand

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