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

[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."

[minipancake]

It's a little annoying, damn it to hell. He didn't want to like Karasu. He didn't want to find him sympathetic. But, he tells himself, he's getting good intel here, as well as a beef bowl.

"People treat me like a prince now. At school and things. Haru-san's father did." His eyes flick sideways, a bit slyly; a bit of that distrust showing, as he remembers what the older Akechi shared. "Not that I don't like it—well, usually. But tomorrow I could have nothing. I have to be ready."

[undyingcrow]

Heh. Of course. "Must be nice." He pauses. "Not that I can't understand. When I worked for Shido, I gained my own apartment, enrollment to a rather prestigious academy. By all accounts, I had 'everything' I ever dreamed of."

Yet again, he lays his chopsticks down, hands rolling up tight.

"But it was a hollow experience with its share of strings. Yet, somehow, you found a way for yourself, even if it required Crow's guidance."

[minipancake]

"Raven did it," he says, quietly. "Crow told me some things, like who to look for. But it was Raven took me to talk to Igor-san."

And Crow had held him while he cried. But he won't say that. The idea of getting things from his father, the way he gets them from Mitsuru-san, makes the beef bowl sit uneasily in his stomach.

[undyingcrow]

"He really has made a name for himself here, despite his age." Quite the curiosity. He's barely older than Wagtail, yet he's done so much. That ambitious streak, that desire to make a mark...

Like something crawling beneath his skin, it's impossible to ignore.

[minipancake]

A shy smirk, if such a thing exists, pops onto Wagtail's face. "I should hope so. He's quite formidable. You should ask him for his story, if you haven't already."

Stand up for his friend? Always.

[undyingcrow]

"I suppose I could." This seems like a good time for a bite, just to look like he isn't uneasy about the prospect. "Admittedly, I've kept my distance after our initial encounter."

[minipancake]

"You didn't like him?" Going by what he heard, they hadn't got on well at all.

[undyingcrow]

...Is that what he got out of it?

Karasu heaves a heavy sigh. "I wasn't ready to unpack everything he represents."

[minipancake]

Ah. He digs into his beef bowl, which is now almost cold. It seems like Karasu has adjusted to unpacking quite a bit, in the intervening months.

"So," he tries, hesitantly, "... you feel about us like I feel about the little kids? Aki-chan, and Hawk?"

[undyingcrow]

"Well, that depends on how you feel." He's not a telepath. He can't say with certainty. "But Raven and Crow... they're the lucky ones. The what-ifs made manifest."

[minipancake]

Hm. No, that's not quite how he feels. Not that Hawk, at any rate, is lucky.

He frowns, thinking. "I'm lucky," he says. "Kirijo-san needed what I know. But I was meant to be like Magpie. I was meant to be like you."

[undyingcrow]

Another soft grunt of laughter slips out of him. "How funny. Kirijo-san recently became my benefactor as well."

[minipancake]

He sits bolt upright, staring; he didn't expect that at all.

"Do you trust her?" In other words, should he, Wagtail, trust her.

[undyingcrow]

"I don't trust easy. Evidently, however, she's the sort who'd rather you form your own opinions than simply take her at face value." So, there's that. He'll let Wagtail decide for himself.

[minipancake]

"So you do trust her." The look he's giving Karasu becomes more shrewd; becomes older somehow. "If you didn't, you would have told me."

[undyingcrow]

"Now, I didn't say that." Still, there's an unspoken lack of distrust. "I'm... decidedly undecided. Given the choice, working under her 'Shadow Operatives' seemed the more pragmatic approach. I can avoid prison, live a relatively normal life, and keep an eye out for these strange, new Persona users and assess their threat level."

Of course, as confidently as he says that, there's the slightest, most subtle hint that it's not so clear-cut. Perhaps even a part of him wants it to be legitimate.