Stealth Mission (Locked to minipancake)

[undyingcrow]

It was embarrassing, the way that multiple children embarrassed Karasu when he declared his challenge. In hindsight, he should have expected it. It was a public challenge, where everyone could see it. He did so specifically to make his intentions clear and to make an impact.

Which he did, obviously. Just not the impact he desired.

Goro Akechi has endured more defeats than he'd care to admit, and some damning ones, at that. Pancakes, spicy takoyaki... yet somehow, being verbally pummeled by a thirteen year old ranks above all the rest.

But it is what it is, and he can do little but move forward, anticipating his next move. His first stop? Daidara Metalworks, naturally. Untouchable's wares are useful enough in the Metaverse, but why pass up the opportunity to test a real saber? As he steps inside, he examines the various swords and katana with one hand beneath his chin.

He hears the door subtly shut behind him, but initially pays it no mind. Still, he'd be a fool to completely lower his guard, so he's listening all the same.

Comments

[minipancake]

"I have a Loki plushie." Look at him smirking; the cheek of him. He pops the morsel into his mouth.

[undyingcrow]

"Yet you still want something more. Goodness..." Oh, Karasu's smirking right back, trying so hard not to laugh. An ambitious one, for sure.

[minipancake]

"I've seen Robin Hood. And Loki. They're—incredible." Hs voice gets far away, as he remembers Raven showing them off; remembers Shiro transforming into the giant hero with a bow. He'd wanted them more than he could say. "But I want something right for me. For whatever I'm going to have to do, about the cup."

He hasn't mentioned Raven's Evoker, or indeed Shiro himself; he's careful like that. But he reveals something. "Maybe in two years, I won't still feel bad any more. Maybe I'll feel more like Crow. And then I'll be completely different."

[undyingcrow]

Ah. So that's what it is. Self-doubt, expectations...

Karasu falls silent. It's... daunting, certainly, knowing that the future holds so much strife. Perhaps if he had known the same, he would have chosen differently, but his path is set. Wagtail's clearly is not.

It does provide some answers, at least.

"Then Crow is the ideal. An aspiration."

[minipancake]

"I like Magpie too." It's a bit quick, and a barefaced lie; he's still afraid of Magpie, not just of how he is, and of his closeness to Raven, but of what he represents.

[undyingcrow]

"You don't sound entirely convinced." Not that it matters. He can feel however he wishes, really. "You're allowed to take issue with what could have been your lot in life. People like us... we're hardly what I'd call socially acceptable company."

[minipancake]

"Neither am I." He watches Karasu, unblinking. "I haven't ever been."

Hated by his family who should have protected him, looked down on by his teachers, ambushed and even spat on by the other kids around him? No, despite his efforts, socially acceptable is very new to him.

[undyingcrow]

"And that is the fault of those in power, who make the rules and define the norms. You seem perfectly fine to me. Tenacious, intelligent..." All good things, certainly.

His head turns slightly downcast, and he stares down at his bowl.

"But Magpie and I have blood on our hands. We have strayed from the ideals of justice we once held dear."

[minipancake]

He thinks about that. Does he really believe in justice? He believes in fairness, sure, or rather in its lack. He believes in what his father did to his mother, and in what the world has done to him. He believes that rich, powerful people get ahead and stay ahead, and that, other than in a very few circumstances like his own, it stays that way.

"Did you?" he asks, probing. "I don't know if justice is really real."

[undyingcrow]

"As a child, I truly believed it was, and I believed in heroes like the Feathermen. I wanted to be like them, and I wanted to protect people, especially her."

A dry, derisive laugh crawls its way out of him.

"Instead, I took lives. Ruined others. You can say that I made the 'right' choice back in Shido's Palace and again in Maruki's reality, but two choices do not undo years of poison."

1/2

[minipancake]

Oh, he jumps in his seat. "You like Featherman?"

2/2

[minipancake]

... ahem. He resettles. "But it's just a story. It's not real. Me wishing the world worked that way doesn't mean it is that way."

[undyingcrow]

"True, but you're allowed to take issue with people who take lives. It's frankly an ordinary perspective." Simple, to the point. It's what many people crave.

Easy to understand morals that make them feel safe.

[minipancake]

It is ordinary. And his frequent lack of that perspective is not something he has, as yet, shared with Dr Sonomura. "Did they deserve it?"

[undyingcrow]

"Some did. Isshiki didn't. Ultimately, those who sought my 'services' expected results, and I lied to myself and said that I had to stay the course in order to destroy Shido at the height of his power..."

Ugh. His stomach churns. He could stay quiet, but... no. This could be a useful lesson.

"Yet a part of me reveled in the luxuries, the status, and above all else, the praise. It's pitiful, really, that the man who abandoned us could hold so much power over me, and a part of me enjoyed it."

[minipancake]

Yeah, that... that really is impossible to fathom. He feels cold. "You didn't have to tell me that."

[undyingcrow]

"You had a right to know, and I have doubts that Magpie would be so forthcoming." Just a hunch, really. No doubt the two have an awkward, even strained relationship. "I suppose you could consider us a cautionary tale."

[minipancake]

"I mean, yeah. No offence." He fiddles with his chopsticks; his food is getting cold, but he can always take it home with the rest. "I've been really lucky. I have friends, back home. I trust them. And there are adults looking out for me now.

"Crow says I can trust them," he adds, with a note of painful irony. Trust is not a common currency for him.

[undyingcrow]

"I still can't fathom how he came to be. Even knowing the inciting incident, I lack far too much vital, lived experience." Heh. Even an elaborate summary wouldn't be the same. He knows that.

"When I was Raven's age, I had lost all hope in humanity. It wasn't until I met Ren that I found it in myself to care, and at that point, I couldn't afford to. Logically, I understand that experiences shape us, and he had an intervention. He has reason to trust, and to encourage you to trust. Perhaps his judgment is better, anyway, seeing how he hasn't walked the path of a killer."

[minipancake]

"Or maybe it's not," he says, again unblinking. "Crow's had... his life was really different, after he was Raven. Sometimes I think he doesn't remember. Did you have the box?"

That's all he says, the box. If Karasu knows, he knows.

[undyingcrow]

"I held onto the gun, but it isn't hard to figure out what you're talking about." Heh. But whether or not Crow remembers... Now there's a thought. "I'm sure he remembers in a sense, but the memories feel more... distant, perhaps. That, or he's simply better at concealing his scars."

[minipancake]

"I collected everything I could." He stares down, remembering his fingers black with newsprint. "Newspaper stories. Websites. I used to print things out at the library. And I would sit and go over them and over them, and I would get..."

Like he would die. Like his heart would burst in his chest, and blood run from his ears and eyes, if someone didn't pay. "So mad," he finishes. "I've still even got it."

[undyingcrow]

"You must still resent him." Because why wouldn't he? Surely even Crow has that much in common with them. "I don't think it's wrong to hold onto that resentment, so long as you choose a different path. You have a luxury I did not, thanks to your connections."

But it is almost nostalgic, really. Following Shido through the news, through the television, even through web searches in school and at the library. Of course he kept track. He had to know more. Had to understand the monster who abandoned him and his mother...

There's still so much beef. He takes another bite, but it's certainly not as hot as it was before.

[minipancake]

It was like a compulsion. Nothing mattered as much as that man. Let him show up in print, or heaven forbid on the TV, and Goro simply couldn't look away, while feelings too old and too big for him overwhelmed him.

"I can't count on connections, though. Not the adult ones, anyway." It's just true. No adult can be trusted. Crow, after all, is not quite an adult.

[undyingcrow]

"Most adults aren't trustworthy. You're right to be wary." And yet, perhaps if he had trusted Sae more... well, then again, she had her distortion. Her warped priorities.

"Someone more sentimental might tell you not to entirely count them out, but you've no reason to expect adults to genuinely treat you with the care and respect you deserve."