[he reads this text message and sighs and mentally turns his chair around and sits backwards on it and puts on his guidance counselor cap.]
Fair enough, fido. I get that, and it's good you recognize it, but let's definitely make it our first priority to be suspicious of anonymous directives to kill people.
Actually, this is a weird conversation to have over text. You wanna grab a bite or something?
[Tiger shows up not long after. Instead of his hero costume, he is wearing a dark grey turtleneck and black jeans, along with some sneakers. Without the hero costume on it's much easier to see how small he actually is. The clothes obscure it a bit, but he's rather pale and his limbs look skinny.
He doesn't get food first, but rather seeks out Reigen. When they're close enough for emotionshare to kick in, there's waves of apprehension coming off of him. He smiles and acts polite though, even if his real emotions are a bit more tumultuous.]
[waving! his emotional state is honestly calm. a little exasperated. atsushi being a pale and skinny kid doesn't awaken any pity in him because he's very used to the concept that a lot of people with dangerous powers don't take good physical care of themselves, but i can't tell you how much listening to his explanation deflated any anger he had purely because he thought the explanation was kind of silly. you just listened to anonymous murder instructions out of habit? ok. let's buy you some lunch, bud.]
You like takoyaki? [he's already got an order of takoyaki, plus some dumplings.] Sorry not to wait, but I was getting really sick of cafeteria food.
[yeah. that's the part that became obvious to him. passing him the takoyaki.]
The thing is. I just think any one of us would have told you, if you mentioned you were getting anonymous messages to do stuff, "that's probably the moon." I mean, when the rules updated to make us kill each other, it was like. Yeah. Whoever is doing that is probably not a good dude.
You know, to some degree, I think most people feel like that. You may have been raised specifically to think that way, but everyone feels comfort in being able to rely on someone else's decision-making in a tight spot.
[He had been trying to keep it a secret for ages, but there's really no point to it now is there? He can't solve this on his own. He kind of has to rely on others now.]
I can't know for certain until I find that book, but...I think it might be how the man in white made all of this happen.
Okay. Well. We do have the book. But also, no, back up. Because you can't actually say "I got an anonymous email telling me to tell someone to kill someone, and that sounded fine at the time, but if a magic book was involved that might have been the reason" without explaining.
I accept your apology. I didn't come here to get one, though.
[i mean, he appreciates one, but inviting him to talk in person was partially because he was alarmed by what he said.]
I think it sounds like you already know this, but you have to think for yourself. Even if that's not how you were raised to be - you're only going to hurt more people if you don't learn how to think for yourself.
I know. I've been trying to get better at it. I was doing better for a while, when it was just the 12 of us, but I think I've regressed a bit in the last two months.
[He doesn't mean it as an excuse though, just as an explanation.]
...I wish I could have met a better adult, when I was little. Maybe things would be different then.
[it's not that he disagrees with that sentiment but it's like. c'mon man.]
Do you really want to meet some other version of yourself? That seems like it's just going to give you a complex about what your life should have been like.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Fair enough, fido. I get that, and it's good you recognize it, but let's definitely make it our first priority to be suspicious of anonymous directives to kill people.
Actually, this is a weird conversation to have over text. You wanna grab a bite or something?
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[and he will be at the park! near some food trucks.]
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He doesn't get food first, but rather seeks out Reigen. When they're close enough for emotionshare to kick in, there's waves of apprehension coming off of him. He smiles and acts polite though, even if his real emotions are a bit more tumultuous.]
Hello.
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[waving! his emotional state is honestly calm. a little exasperated. atsushi being a pale and skinny kid doesn't awaken any pity in him because he's very used to the concept that a lot of people with dangerous powers don't take good physical care of themselves, but i can't tell you how much listening to his explanation deflated any anger he had purely because he thought the explanation was kind of silly. you just listened to anonymous murder instructions out of habit? ok. let's buy you some lunch, bud.]
You like takoyaki? [he's already got an order of takoyaki, plus some dumplings.] Sorry not to wait, but I was getting really sick of cafeteria food.
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It's alright. And takoyaki is fine.
[He is not too picky when it comes to food, as long as it's not expensive.]
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The thing is. I just think any one of us would have told you, if you mentioned you were getting anonymous messages to do stuff, "that's probably the moon." I mean, when the rules updated to make us kill each other, it was like. Yeah. Whoever is doing that is probably not a good dude.
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I know. I should have thought more about it. It's weird though, I just didn't question it at the time. I just accepted it.
...I think a part of me found comfort in being told what to do, instead of having to make decisions for myself.
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Yeah. I didn't even think to question it until I realized the book might be at play here.
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[He had been trying to keep it a secret for ages, but there's really no point to it now is there? He can't solve this on his own. He kind of has to rely on others now.]
I can't know for certain until I find that book, but...I think it might be how the man in white made all of this happen.
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Okay. Well. We do have the book. But also, no, back up. Because you can't actually say "I got an anonymous email telling me to tell someone to kill someone, and that sounded fine at the time, but if a magic book was involved that might have been the reason" without explaining.
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You have the book?
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Okay, good. But listen to me carefully: do not let the man in white get that book. If he gets it, then all hope is lost.
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Don't have to tell me twice, I know. It's important, and that loser's not getting it.
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And I'm sorry, for everything that happened. That even if I didn't do it myself, I still got you killed. That I hurt Danny in the process too.
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[i mean, he appreciates one, but inviting him to talk in person was partially because he was alarmed by what he said.]
I think it sounds like you already know this, but you have to think for yourself. Even if that's not how you were raised to be - you're only going to hurt more people if you don't learn how to think for yourself.
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[He doesn't mean it as an excuse though, just as an explanation.]
...I wish I could have met a better adult, when I was little. Maybe things would be different then.
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No more feeling sorry for yourself or talking about yourself like you're some kind of lost cause. It doesn't help.
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[But there's still time. He can keep working on this.]
Maybe the version of 'me' that exists in this timeline had better results. I should see if I can find him before I go back to mine.
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Do you really want to meet some other version of yourself? That seems like it's just going to give you a complex about what your life should have been like.
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